Predict 2011's Most Improved Players

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I agree with Varcoe he will be a gun this year.

From the Blues i think Henderson will improve from being rated as good solid young key forward to a match winning gun
 

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A bit of collingwood love for blues players - good to see :) so i will return some.

From pies it is hard to think of someone who can go up a step as they are all playing very close to their capabilities already but I will go with Steele like the OP. He is already a gun but i reckon he will go to star next year, then superstar the year after.
 
For us.

Leroy Jetta to become a consistant contributer
Gumbleton
Zaharakis

Too many others to list form other sides and those supporters will have a better idea.

I will throw Garry Rohan out there.
 
A bit of collingwood love for blues players - good to see :) so i will return some.

From pies it is hard to think of someone who can go up a step as they are all playing very close to their capabilities already but I will go with Steele like the OP. He is already a gun but i reckon he will go to star next year, then superstar the year after.

yep... guys like steele (who you mention as having scope to improve), wellingham, dawes, beams, n.brown, reid, cloke, blair and even pendlebury and thomas are all veterans by now and seing as theyre all 23 and under it would be unfathomable to imagine that this core group of youngster has much room to improve..... unlike your mob, we have huge scope for improvement its just that we currently have so much talent you dont even realise how young our boys are.



as for major standout outs this coming season, well, i reckon a bloke called
j.gwilt will become one of the leagues better players... very underrated imo.
 
yep... guys like steele (who you mention as having scope to improve), wellingham, dawes, beams, n.brown, reid, cloke, blair and even pendlebury and thomas are all veterans by now and seing as theyre all 23 and under it would be unfathomable to imagine that this core group of youngster has much room to improve..... unlike your mob, we have huge scope for improvement its just that we currently have so much talent you dont even realise how young our boys are.



as for major standout outs this coming season, well, i reckon a bloke called
j.gwilt will become one of the leagues better players... very underrated imo.

I think Jimmy Gwilt's finals series finally proved to others (and maybe even more importantly to himself) that he is a good AFL footballer.
He's always had the talent to succeed but lacked 'self-confidence'.
Hopefully now he has realized that he 'belongs' in the AFL and will go on to bigger and better games.

From other teams I think that there will be a number of the Melbourne 'lesser lights' (not just Scully and Trengove) who will step up.

I also think that there will be a number of youngsters at Gold Coast who will surprise amny with their ability.
 

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I'll throw up one from each team who I think will have really improved years..

Adelaide: Phil Davis
Brisbane: Aaron Cornelius
Carlton: Andrew Collins
Collingwood: Brad Dick
Essendon: Travis Colyer
Fremantle: Matt DeBoer (just about my favourite non-Swan)
Geelong: Travis Varcoe
Gold Coast: Daniel Harris (hard to improve on a year out of the AFL but I think he will be very good for the Suns)
Hawthorn: Ryan Schoenmakers
Melbourne: Jack Grimes (I reckon Cale Morton will have a really good 2011 as well)
North: Liam Anthony
Port: Travis Boak
Richmond: Trent Cotchin (Nathan Foley also)
St.Kilda: Rhys Stanley (Ben McEvoy to have a big year as well)
Sydney: Nick Smith (was great when fit last year, a full season will show how good he is, Craig Bird also to have a really good year)
Western Bulldogs: Pat Veszpremi (Callan Ward as well)
West Coast: Mitch Brown (Bradd Dalziell I think will have a much better year too)
 
Brent Prismall - Final year of a 3 year contract, coming off an indifferent year, in and out of the team, new coach, new game plan, last chance, MUST perform.

Will go from whipping boy to fan favourite.
 
Here's some guys I'm marking for improvement:

Adelaide: Brodie Martin
Brisbane: Ryan Harwood
Carlton: Kane Lucas
Collingwood: Sharrod Wellingham
Essendon: David Myers
Fremantle: Michael Walters
Geelong: Taylor Hunt
Gold Coast: Jared Brennan
Hawthorn: Brendan Whitecross
Melbourne: Jack Grimes
North Melbourne: Lachie Hansen
Port Adelaide: Daniel Stewart
Richmond: I could ramble on for a while here, but I'll just tip Cotchin and mention Jamie O'Reilly.
St Kilda: Jack Steven
Sydney: Gary Rohan
West Coast: Luke Shuey
Western Bulldogs: Callan Ward
 
I reckon large improvement is most likely from players who have been in the system for 2 years coming into their third year. I would expect someone like Jack Watts and some others from the 2008 draft to step up this year.
 
yep... guys like steele (who you mention as having scope to improve), wellingham, dawes, beams, n.brown, reid, cloke, blair and even pendlebury and thomas are all veterans by now and seing as theyre all 23 and under it would be unfathomable to imagine that this core group of youngster has much room to improve..... unlike your mob, we have huge scope for improvement its just that we currently have so much talent you dont even realise how young our boys are.



as for major standout outs this coming season, well, i reckon a bloke called
j.gwilt will become one of the leagues better players... very underrated imo.

Pendlebury is as good as it gets right now I couldn't be happier with him if i was a pies supporter, he is elite and cant really get much higher than that unless he becomes a judd or ablett.

As for all the others, they played out of their skins this year. Some may keep at that level, some may drop back and some my improve it is hard to tell. Players dont just get better every year because they are older, just ask buddy franklin and hundreds of others players, sometimes they lose the youthful exuberance which made them good to begin with.

Personally i dont see improvement coming out of Thomas, Cloke and Wellingham, they all had pretty much perfect years this year with everything falling into place for them in terms of injuries, team roles, confidence and form. They are at a high level which will be hard to back up.

I agree that Brown, Dawes, Beams, Reid and Blair could all probably get better if they are given more responsibility next year
 
Port have a lot of players who should improve, but we have been expecting it for a while now (Boak, Gray, Salopek, Hartlett)

Im going to go with:

Marlon Motlop
Daniel Stewart
Jasper Pittard

Outside of Port I can see Jack Watts, Robbie Tarrant, Luke Shuey, Robbie Warnock.
 
yep... guys like steele (who you mention as having scope to improve), wellingham, dawes, beams, n.brown, reid, cloke, blair and even pendlebury and thomas are all veterans by now and seing as theyre all 23 and under it would be unfathomable to imagine that this core group of youngster has much room to improve..... unlike your mob, we have huge scope for improvement its just that we currently have so much talent you dont even realise how young our boys are.



as for major standout outs this coming season, well, i reckon a bloke called
j.gwilt will become one of the leagues better players... very underrated imo.

41 games in the past 2 years, as well as a permanent undersized CHB last year has helped him so much.

My opinion:

Simon Hogan: Geelong fans have been boasting to me about his midfield prowess and I find it hard to disagree. With Ablett gone he''ll get his opportunity.

Kyle Hardingham: The bloke Essendon selected ahead of Barlow will be desperately wanting to prove his worth. He's got a hell of a leap, as well as talent, and needs to utilise it, wherever he's played.

Jack Steven: Kept out in 09 by the in form saints team , and was restricted to 8 games in 2010 by the twin towers of Injury and Inconsistency. After 4 years in the system, he's still elligible for the Rising Star, and I've got 10 bucks at 26 to 1.

Xavier Clarke: Big call, but will be absolutely desparate to prove himself, with less than half a game in 2 seasons. Needs an injury free run at it, and he can show us why he was taken at 5 in the superdraft.
 

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Predict 2011's Most Improved Players

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